Federal officers pulling Portland protesters into unmarked vehicles
Federal law enforcement off ice rs have used unmarked vehicles to detain protesters in Portland, according to news reports.
Videos shared online show officers driving up to people, detaining individual s without explanation, t hen driving off, Oregon Public Broadcasting first reported.
Mark Pettibone, 29, told the Washington Post and OPB that he was among those protesters grabbed off the streets of Portland. Pettibone said he was heading home from a protest with a friend early Wednesday morning when several men in green military fatigues jumped out of an unmarked gray van.
“I was terrified ,” Pettibone told the Post. “It seemed like it was out of a horror/sci-fi, like a Philip K. Dick novel. It was like being preyed upon.”
USA TODAY was unable to reach Pettibone Friday.
He ran, but said he was caught, detained and searched. He said he was placed in a holding cell in a federal courthouse, officers read him his Miranda rights and he declined to waive those rights and answer questions. Then, he said he was released with no record of his arrest.
“Usually when we see people in unmarked cars forcibly grab someone off the street we call it kidnapping—what is happening now in Portland should concern everyone in the US,” the American Civil Liberties Union stated. “These actions are flat-out unconstitutional and will not go unanswered.”
A number of lawmakers have spoken out, as well, with Sen. Elizabeth Warren comparing it to“secret police,” Sen. Chris Murphy calling it“chilling” and Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon calling it “authoritarian.”
A spokeswoman for the U.S. Marshals Service said it was not involved in the incident with Pettibone and did not arrest him. The agency's personnel who are on the ground in Portland would've been visibly identifiable as members of the U.S. Marshals Service.
The agency said the U.S. Marshals Service is involved with protecting federal property in Portland. “Working with our federal law enforcement partners, we will continue to investigate, arrest and prosecute those persons instigating or involved in riots, looting and other violence against persons and property involving the violation of federal law ,” the agency said.
However, officers appeared to detain people who weren' t near federal property, and it isn't clear that all of those being arrested had committed a crime, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting.
“If media reports of their actions are accurate, federal officers ar resting Oregonians without probable cause is extraordinarily concerning and a violation of their civil liberties and constitutional rights,” said Charles Boyle, deputy communications director f or Oregon Gov. Kate Brown.
The Department of Homeland Security, which also sent officers to Portland, did not respond to a request for comment.